(Alliance News) - Rambler Metals & Mining PLC on Monday said underground diamond drilling at its Ming copper-gold mine in eastern Canada has found "some of the thickest massive sulphide intercepts and highest copper and gold grades" to date.
Shares in Rambler were up 5.7% at 1.40 pence in London in morning trade.
Between October 2018 and September 2019, Rambler completed 8,785 metres of exploratory drilling at an average all-in direct drilling cost of CAD75 per metre, about GBP44, so GBP386,540 total.
Thus far, the Ming North Zoner of massive sulphide mineralisation has been extended by more than 150 metres down-plunge. Results include 16.40 metres downhole width of 4.6% copper and 3.3 grammes of gold per tonne of ore, plus 28.9 grammes of silver per tonne of ore at hole R18-722-29.
Moreover, the Upper Footwall Zone containing "high-grade stringers" and located inside the Lower Footwall Zone mineralisation plain has been extended and in-filled such that it supports Rambler's 2020 mine plan. Results here include 10.9 metres downhole of 5.9% copper, 0.6 grammes of gold per tonne of ore, and 8.6 grammes of silver per tonne of ore.
Rambler President & Chief Executive Andre Booyzen said: "This latest underground diamond drilling has returned some of the thickest massive sulfide intercepts and highest copper and gold grades encountered on the property to date. It confirms that the tenor of mineralization both in the massive sulfide and the stringer targets improves with depth. This new information provides a tremendous opportunity for the company to bring a significant amount of higher-grade material into the mine plan and mill feed in 2020 and beyond."
Looking ahead, mining at Ming will concentrate on the bottom of the mine, and in 2020 Rambler will develop and begin mining the Ming North Zone, Upper Footwall Zone, and Lower Footwall Zone.
Booyzen said: "The potential exists to extend the Ming North massive sulphide body even deeper with continued underground drilling. And previously announced surface drilling has already demonstrated that the Lower Footwall Zone of stringer mineralization extends more than 700 [metres] down plunge of the current mine workings, awaiting infill surface holes to convert to indicated resource and thereby support many years of mining."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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